Front Valance/Stoneguard Mounting Kit 1965-1966

Have we got the perfect time and money saving kit for you! Replace those old rusty bolts and nuts with new, easy to handle pieces. This kit contains 34 total pieces to mount the front valance and the stoneguard.

By Bill Tumas:
In the last couple installments of our Forgotten Fastback restoration, we undercoated and seem sealed the chassis, and we also installed new disc brakes and a brand new front suspension. Now we're not going to need our rotisserie any longer, we removed the brackets and we can finish off the bodywork by installing the front and the rear valance. For the front, I'm going to go with the original valance, which is in good shape and we like to save original metal whenever possible. For the rear we're going to work with the GT style valance with the trumpets and the backup lights.

Getting the car off the ground will make the installation easier, but it is not required. You will need a 3/8 ratchet, long extension, 3/8 socket, 7/16 socket, 1/2 inch socket, flat head screwdriver, Phillips head screwdriver, electrical tape and safety glasses. This is our front valance hardware kit. The larger bolts and larger u-nuts are going to go on the sides and the bottom of the valance, while the small ones are going to go on the top. Four of the u-nuts have to be mounted itself, the rest of them all get mounted to the body of the car.

The u-nuts install over these tabs, there is going to be two on each side. Now we're going to install the rest of the u- nuts on the body of the car. The two larger ones will go on the bottom here at the radiator support; the four smaller ones are going to attach to our stone guard. Make sure you install these with the u-nut facing up since the bolt's going to come up from the bottom. Now we're ready to hang our valance. We're going to start with the two center ones here. Just get them tight enough to hold it in place. I'll move to the outside ones. Now we'll do the two outside ends and now the two lowers. Now we're going to tighten everything up in the opposite direction we installed it. The installation's finish and we're ready to move onto the rear valance.

Now we're ready to prepare our rear valance for installation. The rear valance you're going to install eleven screws across the top and then two studs to mount in these brackets at the bottom here. The mounting studs install for this bracket from the bottom. This stud is squared out, so it'll slide it over into place here. If you have a welder at this point, a small tack right here will make your life a lot easier to keep this stud in place. If not, it'll fall out pretty easily. In our case, we'll use a little bit of electrical tape just to hold it in place until we get it up in the car. If you replace the taillight panel on your Mustang, you're not going to have the holes here for the rear valance. In that case, you want to start with the two outside ends and then figure out where your holes are going to be drilled.

There's a slotted opening on the bottom of each corner, that's where your studs are going to go up through. I want to install one screw in the center to hold it in place. When holding it in place, you want to make sure that the stud is fully pulled through the corner and installed the supplied washer and nut. You need to decide if it's a little bit easier to put a screwdriver underneath the stud. That'll help you keep pressure on it while you line it up and push it through. Now we're going to install the other ten screws. Again, if you replace your taillight panel, you have to actually drill these holes out before you put the screws in.

While the front valance has been pretty much standard, the rear valance has a few different options. In our case, we want the GT cutouts for the trumpets as well as the backup lights. The rear valance is available with or without the trumpet cutout as well as with or without backup lights. Installation for both the front and rear valance should take you between an hour and a half to two hours total. To follow along on the restoration of Forgotten Fastback and for more install videos, make sure you subscribe to our YouTube channel.